Cadance's breath heavied as she tried to gather herself, wounded and lost inside the mines beneath Canterlot. Just getting up onto her hooves was a colossal task in and of itself. Exhausted and weak, the only light was coming from her own horn, which flickered at random as she struggled to maintain a constant light, specks of magic dripping off, hardly illuminating her prison. She wanted to blast her way out, but she couldn't even muster the strength to keep the light on, it slowing dimming some as she struggled to keep her concentration, her breath heavying with each passing moment. Battered and beaten, her body messy and broken after what had happened to her, after she had her appearance and identity taken, after she was left in a gem mine to die. She lays her head on the ground, almost consigned to her fate. Exhausted, her body soon relaxes, taking slower and slower breathes as she shut her eyes. hoping for her groom to be to rescue her.
Her temporary rest is soon broken as a faint noise began to echo throughout her prison. The sound of laughter began to rattle through her head, a cackle that drove her mad as it slowly rang louder, sending her into a spiral of anger as the condescending laugh continued on. Giving out as loud a yell she could, sounding more akin to a roar, she then put her hooves over her head and curled up, unsure of what to do, her emotions rocketing out of control. This laugh kept on and on, seemingly getting even louder than before with each passing moment, burning into her head. No longer content to let this continue, she grit her teeth, took a deep breath and shakily raised herself to her hooves, stumbling slightly, but determined to channel her anger into strength, into power, into a true force. Biting down on her lip hard enough to draw blood, she plants her hooves firmly into the ground, bracing herself, and fires, a large blue beam of magic shooting outwards. Her plan backfires though, as it ricochets in near random directions. She ducks down as the beam dances around her prison before grazing against her face, leaving a grey burn mark on her cheek, and dissapating. Her eyes opened wide with fear as her heart began racing, her breaths speeding faster and faster. The brief moments of bright light showed her just how trapped she really was, as the cave acting as her prison was much smaller than initially imagined, the noise of the magic having erased the laughter. Sitting silent, her minscule prison showed just how truely alone she really was. Broken, a feeling of claustrophobia set upon herself as her body trembled some, her one shot at escape wasted and a feeling of dread hanging over her head. She sat back down and tried to calm herself but nothing worked as her body began a cold sweat, her heart beating loud enough to be heard through the echo of the cave.
A feeling of nothingness swept over her as she fought back any tears, looking straight down at the ground, a mild relection of her staring back at her. She blinks, desperately hoping she could catch her reflection doing different, just so she could have another to help her weather through this. It never did, and she slid her hoof over it, no longer wanting to see her face as her eyes watered. She wiped her eyes against her shoulder as she let out scream after scream, praying someone else would hear her, on the off chance a guard, or anybody, would just hear her faint cries. No one came as her voice echoed throughout the mines, growing more faint, the same laugh faintly echoing at the end of each scream. She tried to spread her wings, but this was fruitless, as she couldn't hold them up very long at all, and they simply drooped to the ground as her head hit the ground, dejected and, ultimately, defeated.
She rested her head on her hooves as she lay, mind near empty as time seemed to have all but vanished. Hours became years, and days became minutes. Nothing was relative, and a tear flowed from her eye, tears she had been wasting her time fighting back the entire time. Three tears simply fell from her watery eyes, no point in stopping them. The release of her feelings brought an air of calmness to her. However, something was odd. As she finally calmed herself and relaxed, she soon reached a near euphoric state. Her breath slowed greatly, it felt, as she shut her eyes, heart beat slowing. Slowing. She cracked a smile as her magic started to fade, the light dimming greatly. She took one more breath as her horn ceased glowing, the darkness quietly approaching. The silence slowly broken by beats, echoing as the pauses between them spread.
Cadance's eyes soon sprang open as her body shot itself up quickly. She looked back and forth to get a feel of her surroundings, seeing a large room filled with various plush, suits of armor, and Canterlot paraphenalia, her body wrapped in a large, warm blanket as she lay on a soft bed. Looking to her left, she saw Shining Armor wrapped in the same blanket, soundly sleeping beside her. A tear ran down her cheek as she placed a hoof to her heart and smiled warmly. She panted some before wiping her brow, leaning down and pecking a kiss onto her husband's cheek before snuggling up to his warm embrace. A familiar cackle soon rung through her head once more as she began to hold him tighter, biting down on her lip. This haunting laugh grew louder as her lip quivered until Shining, still sleeping, wrapped his own hooves around her. Her eyes widened some before she shut them, sighed, and smiled, knowing that, regardless of what's out there, she's invincible when with her knight in Shining Armor.
